650B Elephant National Forest Explorer

This looks really nice. The fork looks very similar to the thorn disc fork, though I guess it has more offset.

Not quite the same, Glen rotated the fork end horizontally instead of vertical to reduced the risk of the wheel coming off when applying a lots of force on the brake (it got lips as well).

Rake is about 70mm, thorn is 55mm.

nice and twitchy

Looks class, Ed! I too, am looking forward to seeing it built up!

Drooooooool. Looks fantastic Ed, so excited to see it built.

whats taking so long?

having trouble mounting the rando's? ;)

haha

It's not here yet.

Any excuse, eh!

Delivery ETA is on Friday, bit annoying as I like to go into work tomorrow to build it up.

Do you have a parts list?

Drivetrain
Shimano Sora 46/34 black crankset (170mm).
Shimano 105 external bottom bracket.
Shimano Claris rear derailleur.
Shimano Claris front double derailleur.
Shimano HG50 12-25 8 speed cassette.
Shimano 8 speed indexed downtube shifter.
SRAM chains.

Wheels
Hope Pro 2 laced to Arch EX (32h)
Panaracer Comet 2.0 650b tyres.

Cockpit & seat
Zipp SL-88 long and low handlebar (130mm drop, 88mm reach).
SRAM S900 brake levers.
3T ARX Team stem (100mm).
Chris King pink headset.
Brooks C17 with cut out.
Cheap Condor black in-line seatpin.

Brakes
TRP Spyres 160/160.
Swissstop pads.
Yokozuna Reaction compressionless cable kits.

Think that's about it, racks will be ordered once I get some money.

thought you were going for STis on this?

why not middleburn?

Drivetrain
Shimano 8 speed indexed downtube shifter.

Where did you find these?

Downtube shifter + SRAM S900 is a lots lighter, reliable and perform better, if you don't mind having to spend that extra second and a half reaching down to shift that is.

And Middleburn is expensive, just testing the water with this external BB lark, otherwise the White Industries VBC from my Oak will make it's way to this bike.

It is intended to be a hard wearing bicycles after all.

Seems like a strong, sensible build. Odd you've opted for index over friction, sure it'll be a blast to ride either way!

I probably will change back to the Simplex Retrofriction with the modified Campagnolo derailleur set-up like on my Oak as it shift a lots quicker than the Shimano SIS, again testing the water as I never rode off the beaten path with friction.

Good idea. I tried it last weekend. Worked better than I expected, even with a frame bag.

Not tempted by bar end shifters?

Nah, add more complication, downtube only required about 25cm of housing.

Article about Glen Copus.

Used to build Serotta, go figure.

well

Monday.

Where did you find these?

Both Ribble and crc